Robert MacPherson

‘On Hogmanay LCiL lost a close friend, a Champion and a Board Member. Robert Macpherson was a gentle man, passionate and committed to disabled people’s rights. He was a great supporter of LCiL and the work that we do. His passion was not only obvious to those close to him but to everyone who heard him speak as an LCiL Champion, where he often spoke of his own positive personal experiences of support.

Robert was also committed to volunteering for his housing association and dedicated his later life to keeping the Lanfine Unit (an NHS Lothian respite venue) open, explaining very clearly how he, and other people with neurological conditions, benefited from this hospital-based and medical support to better manage their care and life in the community. Robert was always very honest and open when questioning the circumstances of the Lanfine Unit closure.

Robert was also very candid about his support and how the quality, and number of hours, of support he received enabled him to live a good and fulfilled life.

Through his dry sense of humour, his charm, his forthright and honest opinions (in other words, calling a spade a shovel!) and his positive outlook on life, Robert touched many of us profoundly and we are missing him tremendously.’

Activity and outcomes report for the LCiL capacity building programme

This booklet was put together by LCiL’s Self Directed Support (SDS) Capacity Building Programme, which aims to build individual skills, knowledge, confidence and resilience so that people are self-empowered to live the lives they want and be more in control.

The report illustrates the power and value of peer support and how this can support individuals to be self-empowered.

Lothian Disability News – Summer 2017

The summer 2017 edition of Lothian Disability news has just been released!

Featured in this edition:

Grapevine News Update

Personal Independence Payments

Independent Living Team

Edinburgh Taxicard Service

Personal Experiences of SDS

LCiL Staff Changes

Support our Work

Upcoming Events at LCiL

Not signed up? You can sign up to have a copy sent to you for free by completing our mailing list signup here

Callum Ogden

Information and Communications Coordinator

Lothian Centre for Inclusive Living

Are you a disabled person or carer thinking about employing personal assistants?

The Lothian Centre for Inclusive Living (LCiL) is offering the first of a series of workshops as part of its Pick & Mix project.

The workshop will take place on 31st August 2017, Norton Park Centre from 10.30am -1pm followed by lunch.

The information session will look at:

– What are the mandatory responsibilities of being an employer
– Identifying the steps in the recruitment process to ensure safe recruitment
– Begin to establish what you as an individual require from PAs

Blog – Grapevine Update!

Grapevine News Update

“We’re proud to announce that from June 2017 the Grapevine service will be open five days a week, now including Fridays from 10am to 4pm.”

The Grapevine advice and information service has been active with LCiL since the early 90s providing free, confidential, independent advice to disabled people, people with long term conditions and older people.

In that time the service has helped thousands of people with a broad range of issues: from disability benefit applications to help applying for blue badges. Last year alone the Grapevine service assisted with over 1,200 enquiries – our busiest year ever!

We’re proud to announce that from June 2017 the Grapevine service will be open five days a week, now including Fridays from 10am to 4pm. This extra day will allow us to support even more people in Edinburgh every year, and continue to ensure advice is available to those who need it, when they need it.

Due to the current government’s ongoing policy of social security reform, we find the kinds of enquiries we support people with is becoming more and more complicated, with an increased focus on benefits such as Personal Independent Payments and Attendance Allowance. Overall, there has never been a higher level of demand for the Grapevine advice service.

Callum Ogden

Information and Communications Coordinator

Lothian Centre for Inclusive Living

Open Government or Closed Doors?

Open Government or Closed Doors?

Inclusion Scotland are running a joint engagement event on Open Government with SCVO on Thursday 29 June in Perth.